How can I make my pickups different from everyone else's?

[tonemonkey]

I'd love to start making my own line of bass pickups, but with so many people making Jazz and P pickups how do you make something that's different enough to be buyable?

[big_teee]

Do like everyone else.
Lots of trial and error.
Most things with Passives have been tried over and over.
David has his own unique line of Neo Bass pickups.
Your not going to get a lot of detailed "How To" on here.
Most of the Guys Secrets are locked in the Vault somewhere!
Can you Blame Us?
Lots of competition out there!
If you make the standards, you will start coming up with ideas of things to try different.
Good Luck,
Terry

[tonemonkey]

Do like everyone else.
Lots of trial and error.
Most things with Passives have been tried over and over.
David has his own unique line of Neo Bass pickups.
Your not going to get a lot of detailed "How To" on here.
Most of the Guys Secrets are locked in the Vault somewhere!
Can you Blame Us?
Lots of competition out there!
If you make the standards, you will start coming up with ideas of things to try different.
Good Luck,
Terry

Man, I hope you didn't think I was looking for people's design ideas! This was more of an encouragement thing.

[big_teee]

Man, I hope you didn't think I was looking for people's design ideas! This was more of an encouragement thing.

No Problem!
Just trying to save you some hard-Ache. lol
Everytime I try to do something diff. I make 2.
One for the guitar and one to update and mod.
I keep improving the one out of the guitar, until they are as good as I can get them.
Then if I like the outcome, I make more.
I keep records of whatever I like that I think is good.
Keep Rockin!
T

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

I hope that was an open ended question.... kinda silly if you're looking for a rock solid answer.

Personally, I do two things. I use vintage models as great examples and touchstones, but not goals. I don't do replicas. I don't have anything against those who do it well, but it isn't me. I want to find new stuff, so I don't get too hung up on what is "vintage" and what isn't. It is good information to have, but it shouldn't guide all of my decisions. The second thing is almost the same as the first... I'm not chasing a certain sound that exists already. If you're trying to get all the sweetness of a late 50s Les Paul, you're going to keep coming back to the PAF, etc. I have goals in mind for what I want them to sound like, but I tend to think of instruments other than electric guitar when I consider how I want things to sound. If you want pickups to sound like your favorite old recordings, then you're right back into doing the replicas. It sounds stupid and obvious, but I think this is why the market can seem awfully redundant. Everyone is listening to Beano and Are You Experienced and trying to sound like those all the while trying to create something "new".

Find some musicians around you who are interested in what you're doing and will want to play your stuff and offer comments. Some of the best gear ever designed has been collaborations with artists - not just "signature" models.

[Jazz P Bass]

Basic business plan goes thus: Fill A Need.

[David King]

Jazz P Bass has hit the nail on the head but since this is a free country you can create a "need" with effective advertising and just make the same old sht as everyone else is selling but then spin a new level of BS around it. Amazingly enough that seems to work for many many folks (just not folks around here who are still searching for the truth apparently.) I started making pickups because I had a need for them and I was tired of paying others to make them for me. It was probably a dumb business decision on my part but I get to hang around here and shoot the breeze instead of getting my work done.
Funki also makes an excellent point. Every musician wants the hot new pickup as long as it sounds exactly like the old one.

[LtKojak]

Every musician wants the hot new pickup as long as it sounds exactly like the old one.

Truer words have yet to be spoken...

[Jim Shine]

you can create a "need" with effective advertising and just make the same old sht as everyone else is selling but then spin a new level of BS around it.

That sums up about 90% of pickup marketing.

[tonemonkey]

I'm glad I'm not interested in making the same old stuff. I want to make what I would want in a pickup - probably a pretty good idea.

[Steve Conner]

Sure, but it doesn't necessarily follow that anyone else will want it! Unless you're a good advertising copywriter as explained above.

I love to design weird amps, but I wouldn't be too confident of being able to sell them.

[StarryNight]

'You can't wait for the customer to tell you what they want...they don't know anything. You have to tell them what they want." - Steve Jobs

creating something new means taking chances. Sticking with the P and J format may limit your creativity. Also, the intention of your creativity has to be more than just selling a new product for prestige or money. You have to get into "design mode" and play with ideas because of a genuine need to express what's in your head. There is no formula for creating something new, that's the beauty of it. You have carte blanche. Let your imagination run wild, have fun with it. THINK OUTSIDE THE PICKUP!

[big_teee]

Even if you come up with a new pickup, You usually run into Fabrication issues and expenses.
That is why the routine stuff is so popular with winders.
Parts, You can get parts and make pickups, and not spend all your time fabricating.
There are so many after market Pickups available.
If you spend all your time in a day making parts to build one pickup, Seems pretty futile to me.
Mojo has a lot of soapbar bass covers that you can build a pickup in.
That seems pretty practical.
Good Luck,
Keep Rockin!
B_T

[Bryan Jeppson]

How can you make them different? You could forego wax potting and dip them in camel urine. I'm pretty sure noone has tried nor would anyone care to duplicate that, but it might give you a hot dry tone.

I do pretty much everything "wrong" whether it's by vintage standards or "modern" style stuff, but I love the sound I get, and apparently so do people buy my instruments. Keep a notebook of wind counts, resistance, magnet and wire types, and your/others impressions/critiques. Joe Barden had no idea in the beginning what he was doing, but he kept giving stuff to Danny Gatton to road test til he got a solid formula.

[David Schwab]

Even if you come up with a new pickup, You usually run into Fabrication issues and expenses.
That is why the routine stuff is so popular with winders.
Parts, You can get parts and make pickups, and not spend all your time fabricating.
There are so many after market Pickups available.
If you spend all your time in a day making parts to build one pickup, Seems pretty futile to me.

Right, but if you are making what everyone else makes, where is your market? Why would someone buy your PAF or Strat copy and not someone else's?
Thats why you have to venture off and do something different. Figuring out how to make the pickup is part of being a pickup maker. That's what Fender, Gibson, G&L, et al do. Everyone else is using copies of their parts. So you can either learn to paint and make a masterpiece, or do copies of the Mona Lisa to sell at the mall.

Being original is always harder, but in the long run it's better.